IF RESEARCH BY
Deloitte and Curtin
University proves successful, the latest
generation virtual reality immersion
technologies could soon transform safety
and training in the resource industry.
“It’s about making someone
accountable for their actions and making
them experience something that is not
allowed on a mine site – failure,” says
Coert Du Plessis, Deloitte WA’s advanced
analytics lead partner.
Having undertaken extensive research
into the link between training and safety
outcomes, Du Plessis believes that too
often training is done for compliance
purposes and doesn’t always translate to
positive safety outcomes.
He says utilising new immersive
technologies, such as the Oculus Rift VR
headset, can provide a real-life experience
in different safety scenarios, giving users
a full range of vision and the ability to
physically move and interact within a
virtual environment.
This particular virtual technology was
originally developed for the computer
gaming world, but is quickly going
mainstream. Electronics company Samsung
has reportedly partnered with Oculus to
develop a smart phone with curved sides
that converts into a virtual reality headset.
“Oculus Rift is one example where
someone can be fully immersed in an
environment such as a mine site or a
workshop. We can then present them with
a number of incidents and measure their
behaviour,” Du Plessis says.
“From our experiments, we know
people have a much more emotional
training experience. They can experience
what would happen if they fell from that
platform, didn’t see that electrical fault or
look hard enough over their shoulder when
operating machinery. It’s a virtual failure,
but it has a stickiness and lasting effect.”
VIRTUALLY IMMERSED
in safety training
Standardised training in the resource industry could one day involve an electric shock, falling
off a ledge or crashing a heavy vehicle. Good news is, it will all take place in the virtual world.
Immersive technologies are already
used for training purposes in the resource
industry to an extent, most commonly for
machinery simulators. However, Deloitte
and Curtin University’s research promises
to take it to the next level.
While still in the experimental stage,
Du Plessis is eager to undertake further
trials and help resource organisations
understand the potential to personalise
training, identify gaps in individual learning
and reap cost and productivity benefits.
“There is a lot of data generated in
each experience. We have the ability to
identify, for example, that 80 per cent
of a group had a really great learning
experience, but 20 per cent of the group
didn’t. You can then manage that through
additional one-on-one training,” he says.
The research is funded by the federal
government as part of Curtin University’s
‘Learning for Tomorrow’ strategy and aims
to create authentic environments where
students can apply the theory they learn in
class to industry.
But Du Plessis sees far reaching
potential for the resource industry.
“You can have these immersive
environments shared by more than one
person. For instance, at a FIFO family
day, children can put the headset on
and go with dad on a truck or walk into
the mine and experience what the work
environment is like,” he says.
“It enables families to have a meaningful
conversation about work and safety.
“There is also potential to use it in
the recruitment and induction process
by allowing people to feel what it is
like onsite with the noise and buzz of
everything, before they begin work.”
RP
Coert Du Plessis
BGC Contracting’s
mining operations
manager Greg Dark
experiences the
Oculus Rift VR headset
SUMMER 2014-15 RESOURCE
PEOPLE
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INNOVATION
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